You should know how these work by now. Post your goings-in in the world of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as you play through the adventure.

I will be getting my copy the evening of the 16th because our GameStop is doing a 9 PM release.

Lucky! Due to the fact that I have yet to finish Sun, I won't be able to start Ultra Moon until around Christmas time. I'll get home mid-December and finish Sun as quickly as possible, then I'll jump over the Ultra Moon finally.

I don't mind spoilers, but I also haven't been actively seeking them, so I don't know all that much about the game. How does it differ from SM at the beginning so far? Any remarkable changes?

Got the game today. Got through the first island, getting ready to start my journey on the second one. So far enjoying it, quite a few new things so far. Look forward to seeing what other new additions are in store. Still feels a bit weird starting an entire new journey only a year after the original one.

For the record, gonna put my stuff in a spoiler tab. Read at your own caution. You have been warned

Day 1

This game started off similarly to the last game, I picked Popplio as my starter and also downloaded the special Rockruff. I like the extra detail they put into the game; although some things don't make sense...

Like...if her surfboard is from Kanto, why is Alolan Raichu on it?

I spent nearly half an hour playing with this thing. It's just so cute :3

Old men never cease to scare me...

This Rockruff only evolves between 5 and 6 PM; had a fun time grinding it up to level 25 before it turned night time.

Besides Popplio and Rockruff, I ended up catching Smoochum and Bagon in the wild. Not sure what I'm going to train next, but a Fire or Grass type would be nice.

The first trial was fine, no problems there, if anything the teacher with the Rowlett from the trainers school was harder. Hala was so-so; I tried using a Smoochum, but it died turn one to a Revenge attack :l

I got hard trolled by Gladion's Zorua when it disguised itself as a Zubat (Hint: I sent out my Smoochum and tried to use Confusion, then died to a Feint Attack). I then went through my mid-life crisis, otherwise known as Lana's trial. My team was not in good shape to fight water types. I should've just spammed the X items to be fair... Araquanid just hard countered my team at the time with Bubble for my Lycanroc, Aurora Beam for my Bagon, and Leech Life for my Smoochum and Brionne.

Kiawe's Trial was...easy. Brionne + Bubblebeam/Water Z Move and you will win in at most 3 turns since the totem Pokémon uses Detect on the first turn.

I'm currently on my way to Mallow's trial. Not looking forward to Lurantis, that's for sure.

Picked up a copy of Ultra Sun at midnight release with a few friends of mine. Haven't been able to play it too much, but I've cleared the first island. I'm liking the changes that I've seen so far though.

Day 2: Island 2. Continuing the journey. Completed the three main trials on Akala. Lana's trial was "fun" because I'm going against a water type with two Pokemon very weak to it and the third while electric was underleveled. Rockruff's Rock Tomb somehow was my best help. Other two trials were a piece of cake, it was nice to take down Totem Lurantis in my first attempt unlike regular Sun where that was the pain. So nice to have Charizard now to backtrack for stuff. Got "orange doggo" and picked up two more friends. Also claimed the I Choose You Hat Pikachu to complete the Hat Pikachu collection in my Living Dex.

Day 3 - Another day, another dollar. Finished Olivia's trial and moved onto Ula'ula. Aside from a little hiccup during Sophocle's trials (both the last bit of the puzzle with no hint and the totem battle), was otherwise smooth sailing through the story. Just arrived at Tapu Village. Added another member to the team and everyone has reached their final evolution, they grow up so fast!

Day 4 - Finished Ula'ula Island, nothing major to report. Trials completed and dealt with those bone heads. Aether Paradise however.... I just BARELY scraped by in the battle against Lusamine. I got really lucky with not one but two Pokemon holding on by 1HP, just enough to let me get another shot in. Arrived on Poni Island.

Nothing much in the last two days...... except becoming the Champion of Alola.

End of main story so spoilers

Went through Poni Island, nothing real major. The alternate universe mechanic seems pretty nifty, look forward to playing with it more. Battled with Ultra Necrozma, looks pretty cool. Then later caught Necrozma in a Quick Ball. Went through the Elite Four (only had to restart battles twice) and Hau without having to resort to items in-battle, not bad. Now to start working on the post-game stuff.

Overall this was a but of a difficult journey, as I had poor type synergy (somewhat intentionally), and no special attackers until Wishiwashi got Scald and Ice Beam in the late game. In addition, having Lopunny and Pyukumuku meant that most of the time I was limited to 4 members, as Lopunny was better at tanking than dealing damage and Pyukumuku was only really useful in rare situations (that said, one-hitting Totems Togedemaru and Kommo-o, as well as the champion's Tauros with Counter, and cheesing the most difficult story fight with Innards Out was some of the most fun I've ever had in a Pokemon game and most of the reason why it has such a doofy nickname!).

Metagross was a surprise addition: I expected to get Minior at the observatory so I could have a special attacker, and caught one, but I also found a Beldum before I could escape the grass. I lowered it to red and wasted one of my 2 Ultra Balls, and then decided to keep throwing balls until it took itself out with Take Down. On the next Ultra Ball, it caught, much to my disbelief! Since Metagross is my favorite Pokemon, this had to be the final team member for me (sorry, Minior in my PC!).

So far, I've had a lot of fun whenever I have the time to play (I've just gotten to Rainbow Rocket) and I hope Game Freak can make something great as the series moves onto the Switch in the near future.